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Sunday, 30 October 2011

Eldar Codex Project: Playtesting, Wraithguard and Pathfinders

It's been a while since any major posts have been made with regards to this..... Behold! The Wait Is Over!

Alongside my league games at BWG, I also managed to get a playtest in with the current incarnation of the fandex and was quite pleased with the current incarnation of the rules. The dice rolling was pretty average with Fire Dragons achieving delivery and some Striking Scorpions totally wrecking a lasplas parking lot.

However, the Psychic domination that the Eldar have, didn't come across in the game, with the Farseer being nullified time after time - was rather annoying - but in a game with two Rune Priests, you can only imagine the annoyance at casting with flying colours and being 4+ed away completely.

The overall size of the army was 2K, composed of something that looked a little like this:

The last couple of tanks haven't really changed in comparison to their current incarnations, so no biggies there. I used the old Autarch rules, but at the 'new' point cost and he seemed to fit well, but the changes I have in mind are pretty significant :).

I did actually lose the game on objectives, but the damage caused by the army was pretty horrific - closer to the power an Eldar army *should* be able to do, rather than relying on stunlocking.

So, there's some interesting news.... Now, the new unit profiles:

Miniwargaming

Wraithguard (Or as currently known, the models no-one uses as they are A: Terrible, B: Horrifically expensive, C: Terrible - Can I has cheaper Wraithguard.... Anyone....?)

Wraithguard are huge, immensely powerful constructs used by the Eldar to host the souls of those that once fell in battle or died of old age. As an Eldar dies, it goes into spiritual dormancy, its consciousness residing in a large soulstone to be inserted in the Craftworld's inifinity circuit. When in times of dire need, these are awakened by Spiritseers and placed into large wraithbone bodies which act as to attack the enemy, seeing the battlefield as a series of spirits, dancing across the skein.

As they currently stand, they are utterly pointless - performing a role that the Eldar don't really need or want - a very short range, potentially useless guy, that will kill stuff it shoots at, but folding epically in close combat to anything dedicated.

I see Wraithguard as the Eldar answer to Paladins - horrifically difficult to dispatch, with a profile and ability set to match - they *are* made out of the same stuff as Wraithlords, buildings etcetera so they should be tough. With regards to the profile, it's pretty much okay, but I'm making a few changes here and there to make them more able to fulfil the battlefield role I envisage for them.

And now a musical break, sit back and relax.....

(Ever Since Dethtron posted an article about these guys a while back, I always associate them with Eldar and listen to the Takk album on loop for days on end....)

Pathfinders are 'elite' rangers (otherwise known as really sneaky bastards) who are capable of holding up entire armies with their well placed shots. In order to make them significantly different to Rangers, they need a few 'Buffs' and modifications, rather than just being an expensive use of points that doesn't achieve much other than take slots meant for Fire Dragons.

You can't see the Pathfinders, they're in the picture though, watching and waiting...

Things they already have are BS5, Super Stealth and sniper rifles. Yes, that makes them good, I want them to be better for the price I pay. In order to rectify this, there have been a few changes - they count as S8 vs infantry when you hit with a roll of a '6'. Yeah, you'll have to wound them too, so it'll work like this:

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